The Wannabe Chef: Healthy Sweet Potato Skins

A healthy sweet potato skin loaded with good stuff.

I showed my mom the ingredients for sweet potato skins and she commented, “Did you ever think you would eat anything like this?”

As a matter of fact, I didn’t. Growing up, I was a picky eater for sure. I didn’t even like sweet potatoes, the main ingredient of this dish. But come college and adulthood, I discovered a willingness to broaden my palette.

With this newfound obsession for what I considered gourmet foods, came a love for cooking (which my husband appreciates). I’ll try any recipe that’s thrown my way…I’m always up for a new cooking challenge.  And thanks to Pinterest, I have a board full of recipes just waiting to be cooked…and eaten!

These sweet potato skins were first on my list. They’re colorful, good for you and as it turned out, easy to make. Here are the ingredients:

2 medium or large sweet potatoes

1½ tablespoons butter

1 shallot, minced

1 bag fresh baby spinach

¼ cup light sour cream

2 ounces light cream cheese

1 cup chickpeas

¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Not counting the time it takes to bake the sweet potatoes and allow them to cool before handling, it was a quick dish to put together.  While the potatoes cooked, I sautéed the spinach and shallots in butter and allowed the cream cheese to soften. After combining the ingredients and stuffing the mixture back into the potato skins, I topped each potato with mozzarella cheese and – cheese lover that I am – probably used a little extra than the recipe calls for.

The finished product was delicious and creamy. I almost forgot they’re good for you! And I now have a new way to prepare sweet potatoes instead of just baking them or cutting them up for fries.

Note: The recipe doesn’t call to do so, but I think I would mash the chickpeas next time so I’m not biting into big chunks. I would prefer everything in this dish to be smooth.

Don’t forget to try out all our other recipes from our Pinterest board!

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